All material on this blog is directed to members of the general public and is not intended to be read by my fellow Committee members, nor do I intend for any readers to convey such material directly or indirectly to my fellow Committee members.

Friday, July 6, 2018

from the finance committee handbook, chapter 3, page 20The Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) has ruledthat finance committees are responsible for preparing andsubmitting their municipality’s annual budget (Chapter 39 s16, Ch. 41, s 59 and s 60M.G.L.), unless there is a charter orbylaw giving this authority to the board of selectmen or townmanager (DOR’s In Our Opinion, 93-310). The exact formatof an annual town budget is community specific. DOR hasdetermined that while the law regarding annual municipalbudget format is directed to cities, it should also be followedby towns.The format found in the law addresses itself to budgetarybasics. Almost all towns and cities in the Commonwealth gowell beyond this in their annual budget presentation package (see Chapter 2). DOR has also ruled that only a townmeeting — not the finance committee or selectmen — maydetermine the exact budget format to be used (see In OurOpinion, 92-145). As a practical matter, town meetingwould have to vote to reject the present format and request anew one for the following year.If you wish to send a message to the selectmen, try a citizen's petition to change the budget format at Town Meeting. (Who is really in charge?)

8 comments:

“Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.

It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.” Washington’s Farewell Address - seems to fit your blog

That is your opinion, in reality, the above is information being passed on to those who may not be aware of the things they can do at their own meeting. That would be Town Meeting, the legislative body, where it, according to the ruling of the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, the town administrator nor the selectmen have the power to determine the format for the upcoming year's budget. Appears to me that the policy and will of one "country", Town Meeting, has been subjected to the policy and will of another, the T/A & selectmen. It also appears, justsmartnuff has moved onto big words and philosophy in an attempt to distract from the real point. Which would be, if people wish to have a more detailed budget presentation at Town Meeting, they, the people have the authority to do that by way of a vote and the only way to guarantee an item to be placed on the warrant by the selectmen is via a citizen's petition. Perhaps informing people what they really have the ability to do by way of Town Meeting scares you? Maybe justsmartnuff is an agent trying to open the door to foreign influence and corruption at town hall?

If you need a dictionary for 12th grade SAT words I’m sorry ( support education) . If , repeating his list of lies , half truths and defamations is your idea of alerting the good people of Templeton to their civic duties and recourses-l think they just resoundingly said NO to you.